Saturday, December 15, 2012

Gaudete: Joy as a fruit of the Holy Spirit

Gaudete Sunday, Philippians 4:4

Rejoice
in the Lord always!

Midway through the penitential
season of Advent, the Church bids us to set aside for a moment our austerities
and rejoice in Christ’s coming which is soon to be accomplished. This Sunday is
marked with a spirit of joy, and we are even commanded to be joyful as we hear
the entrance antiphon: Gaudete in Domino semper!
– Rejoice in the Lord always!

We may wonder, however, in what
this command to rejoice consists. Must even those who are sad and sorrowing
rejoice? What of those who mourn the death of a loved one? What of those
suffering from clinical depression? Must all these rejoice and be joyful?

What is the “joy” which the
Church demands? From where is this joy derived? What do we mean when we state
that joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit?

Joy
as a fruit of the Holy Spirit, not a mere emotion

When the Church demands her
children to rejoice, she is not speaking of a mere emotional act. No, rather,
she directs us to the fruits of the Holy Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit are
neither emotions, nor even virtues, but are rather the acts of a man in the
state of grace when led by the Holy Spirit.

Indeed, when we speak of a “fruit”
in the natural world, we mean the product of a plant. So too, when we speak of
the “fruit” of a man, we mean that which he produces – first, and foremost,
this is his actions.

Hence, when a man acts
according to the light of his reason, these actions are called the “fruits of
reason”; but when a man acts according to the inspiration of the higher light coming
from the Holy Spirit, these acts are called the “fruits of the Holy Spirit”.

Hence, the joy which the Church
enjoins upon us on Gaudete Sunday is
not an emotion, nor even a virtue, but an act. And this act is not so much an
act of man’s power, but an act proceeding from the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit.

Joy
as proceeding from charity

Joy is an act proceeding from
the theological virtue of charity insofar as joy is caused by love – either through
the possession of the beloved or because the proper good of the beloved exists
in the lover.

Now, the theological virtue of
charity is the love of God who is perfect and unchangeable goodness. Further,
by the very fact that he is loved – i.e. by the very existence of charity in the
soul of man – God is present in that man: He
that abideth in charity, abideth in God, and God in him. (1 John 4:16)

Now, since the act of joy
proceeds from the possession of the beloved in the lover, and since (by
sanctifying grace) the Most Holy Trinity dwells in the soul of the man who
possesses the virtue of charity, it is clear that all those who are in the
state of grace must needs rejoice.

Therefore, the Church can
indeed demand that the faithful rejoice and be joyful, since those in the state
of grace must be joyful at the presence of God within their souls. Whosoever
possesses charity will always make acts of joy, for the Trinity whom he loves
is present within his soul by grace.

Can
a man be both sad and joyful?

But then we come to a
difficulty – how can those who are sorrowing (on account of some natural evil,
or even on account of some moral evil) be joyful? Must those in the state of
grace have absolutely no sorrow? Or, to put the matter another way, can those
who are sorrowing exercise the fruit of joy?

There is a twofold joy in God
which arises from charity. On the one hand, the soul rejoices in God insofar as
the perfect Goodness of God is considered in itself. In this respect, such joy
cannot have any admixture of sorrow at all – for the Goodness of God is
infinite and perfect in every way.

On the other hand, a soul
rejoices in God not considered in himself, but rather in the Divine Good as
participated by man. In other words, the soul rejoices in the fact that it participates
in the Divine Life through grace. Because of the imperfections and sins of man,
this joy will have admixture of sorrow, so long as we are in this life. Indeed,
even the great saints grieved for their past sins and for the sins of others.

Hence, while the perfect joy in
God’s own Goodness must be wholly free of any sorrow, the joy which stems from
the participation in God is often mingled with sorrow (insofar as our
cooperation with grace is imperfect).

And this is why the Church
demands that our joy be continuous – for true joy is lost only through sin,
because it is only through mortal sin that the Beloved departs from our soul at
the loss of sanctifying grace.

Nothing can take God from us
save mortal sin. Not depression, not the death of a loved one, not financial
trouble, nor even the sins of others. Therefore, the Church must command us to
be joyful, as she demands that we remain in the state of grace. If all our joy
be perfect joy which comes from the presence of God within us, we will rejoice
always so long as we be in the state of grace.

Furthermore, because we are
preparing for the coming of Christ whom we love, and because joy increases as
the Beloved draws near, the Church names this Sunday – which marks the final
period of preparation before the celebration of Christmas in which we consider
the coming of Christ in the flesh and prepare for his Second Coming at the end
of time – Gaudete “Rejoice” Sunday.

@Anonymous,I would be surprised that you do not know that an imperative verb (guadete) is a "command", excepting that you don't even have the decency to notice that the comment policy on this blog requires the use of a name or pseudonym.

Well, you only read the title, so I can see you aren't interested in serious discussion.